ALS House CELTA Centre

Topics covered during the course

1. Learners and teachers, and the teaching and learning context 

2. Language analysis and awareness 

3. Language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing 

4. Planning and resources for different contexts 

5. Developing teaching skills and professionalism

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Teaching practice

During the course candidates teach 6 hours of observed and assessed lessons (as well as some unassessed lessons for additional practice whenever it is possible).

• Two different levels (e.g. Elementary and Intermediate) 

• Groups of real language learners, between 5 and 12 students

• Assisted lesson planning before teaching (candidates are given materials and guidance before they start planning their lessons)

• Candidates receive written and oral feedback on each lesson (in groups or individually)

• For each lesson candidates are expected to complete and submit a lesson plan, language analysis, materials for the students and a self-evaluation

• When they are not teaching, candidates are expected to observe their peers’ lessons and participate in feedback on their teaching

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Each lesson is assessed and can be graded as to standard or not to standard. 

Trainers also clearly state the strengths in each of the lessons, and your areas to work on. 

At the beginning of the course, you are introduced to the criteria for teaching practice, and the overall criteria for the course so that you could track your progress throughout the whole course. ​

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Feedback and assisted lesson planning

Before the candidates have to teach their lessons, they are given materials and written guidance on what and how they have to teach. The amount of guidance is reduced as the course progresses, and towards the end of the course candidates can choose the materials and plan lessons fully independently, or can ask their trainers for materials and guidance.

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As part of assisted lesson planning, candidates 

• Get the materials (usually coursebook pages) and notes on what to do

• Plan their lessons, complete the lesson plan, language analysis, design or adapt materials 

• Have a 10-15 minute consultation with the tutor and their peers in which they discuss their ideas

• Finalize the paperwork for the lesson and submit it electronically before they teach

All of their paperwork is assessed and has direct impact on the course grades (see Teaching Assessment Criteria).

After the candidates teach their lessons, they are asked to fill in a self-evaluation and submit it before feedback. For feedback, candidates get together with their peers and trainers, and discuss the lessons, what worked, what can be done differently and how, and any other questions they might have. All candidates are required to participate actively and use their notes from their observations of peers. Participation in feedback is also assessed and has impact on the grade (see Teaching Assessment Criteria).

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Most candidates say that feedback is the most productive and valuable part of the course and most candidates learn most from teaching and observing.

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Written assignments

Candidates complete and submit 4 written assignments of 750 to 1000 words each around the following topics:

• Analysing and responding to learner needs 

• Analysing language for teaching purposes 

• Teaching language skills 

• Reflecting on classroom teaching 

For each of the assignments, you will be given a task with written instructions, and some time to work on the tasks. You can also request a consultation with your trainers.

When you submit your assignment, trainers mark them as Pass, Resubmit (which means that the trainers think you need to add some information or correct some mistakes in your assignment), Pass on 2nd submission (if you make improvements and resubmit the assignment successfully) and Fail (if you do not add enough information or correct the mistakes after you are asked to resubmit the assignment).

Please note that you can submit each of the assignments twice (i.e. each of the assignments can be resubmitted once).

It is possible to fail one assignment and still pass the course.

Failing two assignments (or more) will result in an automatic Fail on the course.

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A typical day on a full-time course

9:00 – 11:30 Teaching practice (usually 3 or 4 candidates teaching, there are short breaks)

11:45 – 13:00 Feedback on teaching

13:00 – 14:00 Assisted lesson planning for the next day

14:00 – 15:00 Lunch

15:00 – 18:00 Observations, input sessions, consultations with experienced trainers

From 18:00 onwards candidates will be busy with homework, reading, lesson planning etc.

Please note that CELTA is a very intensive course. 

If you’re joining a full-time course, please make sure you cancel all other commitments for the time of the course as those commitments may impact your performance on the course.

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Course grading

There is no final exam on CELTA. Your work on the course will be assessed every day.

Every course Is taught by experienced trainers certified by Cambridge Assessment English, and all final grades are confirmed by an external assessor from Cambridge Assessment English. The role of the assessor is to ensure the course is delivered in line with the Cambridge standards and assessment is fair.

There are two main components on the course which are being assessed: teaching practice and written assignments. In order to get the CELTA certificate, you need to complete both.

Certificates are given to the candidates whose portfolio of work meets the criteria and requirements of the course.

Results can be as follows:

Pass (around 80% of the candidates around the world)

Pass B (around 10% of the candidates around the world)

Pass A (around 5% of the candidates around the world)

Fail (around 5% of the candidates around the world)

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Entry requirements

Applicants must: 

• be at least 18 (It is generally recommended that candidates should be aged 20 or over, but candidates aged between 18 and 20 can be accepted at the centre’s discretion.) 

• have an awareness of language and a competence in both written and spoken English which will enable them to undertake the course and prepare for teaching a range of levels (The recommended candidate language level is C2 or high C1 on the CEFR.) 

• have the potential to develop the necessary skills to become effective teachers and to complete successfully the written assignments and the assessment of teaching practice. 

In order to confirm that the candidates are meeting those requirements, we ask all candidates to complete an application form and take part in an oral interview.

Application process

In order to apply for the course, you need to go through several steps

1. Registration

You need to register on our website. Once you fill in the registration form, you will receive our application form for the course

1. Application form

You can either fill in the form as a MS Word file, or fill it in as a form on our website. Both forms are identical, so you only need to do one of those.

1. Online interview

We also invite all candidates to an oral interview done online in zoom.

During the interview we make sure the candidate’s level of written and oral English will be enough to cope with the course, and also provide our candidates with more detailed information about the course.

Based on the results of the interview, we either accept our candidates onto the course, or reject them and give recommendations on what they might need to do to get accepted later.

1. Course acceptance and payment

After all the steps, we send our candidates the following:

• An official acceptance onto the course

• Course rules (which the candidates have to read and sign)

• An invoice and details of how they can pay (either a bank transfer, or through PayPal)

Please note that the candidates have to pay at least 30% to reserve their place on the course. 

The rest of the sum is to be paid by the beginning of the course.

Early-bird fee – 10% discount

Full payment before the course – discount 

Please also note that the course fee is non-refundable.

1. Preparation for the course

All candidates will receive several tasks before they start the course.

We ask all candidates to complete those tasks.

Trainers will not collect or check those tasks, but the whole course is based on the knowledge and skills the candidates can develop by completing those tasks.

How the course is run

Online CELTA

The course is done entirely online, most work is done in a synchronous mode (i.e. all candidates and trainers meet and do the word together). All homework is done individually in an asynchronous mode.

All teaching practice, feedback, assisted lesson planning, tutorials, consultations and input will be done using zoom. 

All candidates need to have a free zoom account.

We will be storing all portfolios and materials on Google Drive, so it’s a good idea to register a google account before the course.

Candidates will communicate with each other and with their trainers using emails and Slack.

Face-to-face CELTA

The course is done face-to-face, at the centre in Greece. Most work is done in a synchronous mode (i.e. all candidates and trainers meet and do the word together). All homework is done individually in an asynchronous mode. It can be done at the centre during the working hours, or at any other location.

All teaching practice, feedback, assisted lesson planning, tutorials, consultations and input will be done at the centre (unless arranged otherwise).

All candidates need to have a free zoom account in case any online work is planned.

On face-to-face courses, we will be storing all portfolios and materials on Google Drive, so it’s a good idea to register a google account before the course. Candidates will be able to print out their materials at the centre if needed.